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There is a God and it isn't hard to figure things out on our own. What IS hard is living the way we figure things should be because the world is NOT accommodating to those who try to live as Jesus modeled. Look what they did to Him! When you query your inner conscience, the right answers are not elusive, just largely dangerous, impractical, costly, or impossible to implement in this world.
I appreciate the remarks.
My favorite instructor often tells me that if I want to learn something, I could do it on my own with determination, that I don't really need him. Yes and no. Sure, there is natural talent and I know what mine is and I couldn't really teach it to others. But then there are more things to learn and after many years of trial and error, many years of picking up books and putting them down, watching videos, readings post, the one thing I've come to appreciate is clarity and cohesion. A concept that I didn't really understand until recently. That is why he is my instructor. I can ask him any question about his native language and he has an answer that fits in with everything else I have learned from him, whereas my friends tell me "we don't know, Elyn, we just speak the language." That always makes me laugh and I know how they feel.
I really hope there is a god. If God exists as you say, it has brought no clarity or cohesion but rather guesses and speculations at worst and at best hopes and dreams. But never inferences. Nor have any writings about him.
My favorite instructor often tells me that if I want to learn something, I could do it on my own with determination, that I don't really need him. Yes and no. Sure, there is natural talent and I know what mine is and I couldn't really teach it to others. But then there are more things to learn and after many years of trial and error, many years of picking up books and putting them down, watching videos, readings post, the one thing I've come to appreciate is clarity and cohesion. A concept that I didn't really understand until recently. That is why he is my instructor. I can ask him any question about his native language and he has an answer that fits in with everything else I have learned from him, whereas my friends tell me "we don't know, Elyn, we just speak the language." That always makes me laugh and I know how they feel.
I really hope there is a god. If God exists as you say, it has brought no clarity or cohesion but rather guesses and speculations at worst and at best hopes and dreams. But never inferences. Nor have any writings about him.
I know people who are in recovery and also practicing sobriety. It is a long dreadful road. I believe I see clarity and cohesion of divinity in their struggle to overcome and stay in it, day by each day. It is a miracle.
"The important thing, I think, is not to be bitter. You know, if it turns out that there is a God, I don't think that He's evil. I think that the worst you can say about Him is that, basically, He's an underachiever." [Woody Allen]
Not that I've seen before. I like it, and as a big Woody fan, I like it even more! Thanks!
Given the kind of havoc and evil that these different notions of God have wrought on human society since the beginning, I am certain there is nothing to laugh about from God's point of view. The human wishful thinking about the Omnis is simply not credible enough to dissuade me from my view that there is "no way to avoid or prevent any of it" without essentially making robots of us.
Given that evolution and maturation seem to be the operative paradigms, I see no easy path to the desired outcomes of love of God and each other given the current psychological makeup of humanity. Coercion or threats are counterproductive to the desired outcome making them largely impotent.
As with all things it seems there is always the "good, bad and ugly."
Hard not to cry over the tragedy of the Jim Jones story for example. One of too many very sad stories. I hear you there, but that's not all there is of course. There is also all that people think and do in the name of a god that seems awfully humorous to me, and I don't think I'm the only one. Seems to me there is no good reason to think a god is without a sense of humor as long as we're going to speculate about such things. It's an open question in any case. One I enjoy entertaining along with the rest...
"God's fine with us questioning his existence but he might really get pissed off if we said he couldn't take a joke"
"The question: What evidence is there that God has a sense of humour?"
"There's an old Yiddish witticism "To make God laugh, tell him your plans." "
My favorite instructor often tells me that if I want to learn something, I could do it on my own with determination, that I don't really need him. Yes and no. Sure, there is natural talent and I know what mine is and I couldn't really teach it to others. But then there are more things to learn and after many years of trial and error, many years of picking up books and putting them down, watching videos, readings post, the one thing I've come to appreciate is clarity and cohesion. A concept that I didn't really understand until recently. That is why he is my instructor. I can ask him any question about his native language and he has an answer that fits in with everything else I have learned from him, whereas my friends tell me "we don't know, Elyn, we just speak the language." That always makes me laugh and I know how they feel.
I really hope there is a god. If God exists as you say, it has brought no clarity or cohesion but rather guesses and speculations at worst and at best hopes and dreams. But never inferences. Nor have any writings about him.
I appreciate your remarks too...
Not sure about the hope a God exists. I don't think about that much other than here and somewhat academically. No real hopes along those lines. If a God exists, "she's got a lot of explaining to do."
I know people who are in recovery and also practicing sobriety. It is a long dreadful road. I believe I see clarity and cohesion of divinity in their struggle to overcome and stay in it, day by each day. It is a miracle.
I have a very good old friend that just passed his 4 year mark of sobriety. We go back to high school days together...
Was a very long dreadful road before he finally got started 4 years ago, and it certainly hasn't been an easy road since, but 4 years is quite the landmark to be proud about and optimistic. He used to tell me that all that god stuff that tends to go with the AA 12-step program turned him off a bit. He's not a believer, so it bothered him a bit that he had to sort of accept that part of the program. I told him he didn't have to accept anything he didn't want to.
I used to tell him only to focus on what helped him and let the rest be for others who might need that sort of thing. Rather than think of a god being involved, to simply reach deep for the inner strength he needed to overcome his disease. That and the help of others. "Whatever works" as they say.
Seems he took my advice to heart, and now he is helping others at the rehab center where he works. He is also good at helping others without bringing god or religion into the picture which certainly resonates with others who are not into all the god stuff either.
Here's to all who are struggling with that sort of pain and suffering in any case and all best wishes to their recovery however they may achieve it. "Addicts are not bad people trying to do good. They are sick people trying to get well."
I have a very good old friend that just passed his 4 year mark of sobriety. We go back to high school days together...
Was a very long dreadful road before he finally got started 4 years ago, and it certainly hasn't been an easy road since, but 4 years is quite the landmark to be proud about and optimistic. He used to tell me that all that god stuff that tends to go with the AA 12-step program turned him off a bit. He's not a believer, so it bothered him a bit that he had to sort of accept that part of the program. I told him he didn't have to accept anything he didn't want to.
I used to tell him only to focus on what helped him and let the rest be for others who might need that sort of thing. Rather than think of a god being involved, to simply reach deep for the inner strength he needed to overcome his disease. That and the help of others. "Whatever works" as they say.
Seems he took my advice to heart, and now he is helping others at the rehab center where he works. He is also good at helping others without bringing god or religion into the picture which certainly resonates with others who are not into all the god stuff either.
Here's to all who are struggling with that sort of pain and suffering in any case and all best wishes to their recovery however they may achieve it. "Addicts are not bad people trying to do good. They are sick people trying to get well."
I know people who are in recovery and also practicing sobriety. It is a long dreadful road. I believe I see clarity and cohesion of divinity in their struggle to overcome and stay in it, day by each day. It is a miracle.
I don't doubt that we can see clarity and cohesion where a person turned their life around. My focus on that last post was that it is not so easy to figure things out on our own.
I don't doubt that we can see clarity and cohesion where a person turned their life around. My focus on that last post was that it is not so easy to figure things out on our own.
This is true. Sometimes we seem to be led towards a path, things coalesce. Sometimes we seek help. Still it is always a struggle and the struggle itself is a practice of spirituality, like anything that is worth having is.
I told him he didn't have to accept anything he didn't want to.
I used to tell him only to focus on what helped him and let the rest be for others who might need that sort of thing. Rather than think of a god being involved, to simply reach deep for the inner strength he needed to overcome his disease. That and the help of others. "Whatever works" as they say.
Sage advice my friend.
I spent 11 years in and out of AA trying to sober up. When I quit trying to "do" AA and just used it for a support group... I managed to get there. It's been 17 and a half years for me.
Also, in my experience this "one day at a time" thing is over dramatized. For me it was like that for about a year and a half. Since then I rarely have a thought about drinking, much less a compulsion like I used to have.
I think it's important to acknowledge to newly sober people that it is really hard at first... but it doesn't have to (and won't) stay that way.
Ironically, my biggest problem is "drunk" dreams where I dream I have been drinking and realize I've blown my sobriety. They are very real sometimes and the next morning I have to convince myself of that.
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When you query your inner conscience, the right answers are not elusive, just largely dangerous, impractical, costly, or impossible to implement in this world.
